Canada-India. Conflict escalates following the murder of a Sikh leader in Canada

On the website of the BLS International agency that handles the processing of visa applications to India in Canada, there was information on Thursday that “due to operational reasons, as of September 21, visa services to India have been suspended until new information.”

BLS International has centers for applicants including: in Toronto, Ottawa and Vancouver. Earlier, India warned its citizens against traveling to Canada.

Canadian missions in India have reduced the presence of diplomats, Canadian media reported on Thursday, after receiving threats.

80,000 Canadians visited India in 2021, public broadcaster CBC reported. It was the fourth largest group of tourists in India. At the same time, approximately 300,000 students study in Canada. people with Indian passport. As Forbes reminded us a few months ago, immigration to Canada from India has tripled over the past ten years. According to data from the Canadian government, last year over 118,000 people flew to Canada. immigrants from India who have obtained permanent residence. They constituted 27 percent. immigrants to Canada.

On Monday, Trudeau told parliament that Canadian intelligence had information that he was responsible for the murder of Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June this year. In Colombia The British became the government of India.

Evidence includes: talks in which both representatives of the Indian government administration and Indian diplomats, including diplomats working in Canada, participated, public broadcaster CBC reported on Thursday. Another source of information is one of the countries of the Five Eyes Alliance, Canada’s secret intelligence alliance, USA, Australia, New Zealand and Great Britain. CBC’s sources did not identify a specific country. According to CBC, during unofficial Canada-India talks, Indian representatives did not deny the allegations that there was evidence of the Indian government’s involvement in the murder.

Trudeau emphasizes in his statements that Canada reports facts, and the media provides further information that Trudeau talked to the US president before making the allegations public. Joe Biden and other allies.

The Indian government keeps saying it’s “absurd.”

Canadian Sikhs are planning protests on Monday in front of Indian diplomatic missions in Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver, Global News television reported on Thursday.

There was also the problem of censorship ordered by the Indian government. PressProgress magazine reported Wednesday that after the June murder, Meta recommended in internal documents that it remove Canadian posts on Facebook and Instagram mentioning Nijjar’s name. India has legislation enabling the government to order the removal of posts from social media in India, but the regulations also apply outside India, said the magazine, to which Meta did not respond to some of its detailed questions.

Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who had Canadian citizenship, on June 18 this year. was shot dead outside a Sikh temple in Surrey, British Columbia. He was a supporter of the creation of an independent state of Khalistan in northwestern India for members of the Sikh religious community. The Indian government considered him a terrorist and accused him of conducting separatist activities.

Sikhism is a religion that was founded in the 15th century and combines Hindu and Muslim beliefs; it currently has approximately 27 million followers in the world.